HID headlights - worth it? How easy to install?

[shangani]

After a blat in the dark a week or so ago, I realised how pathetic the headlights on the elise are. (S2 111s) Without the driving lights on and particularly in the wet, you can barely see your nose. There are all sorts of brighter bulbs, but the general feeling seems to be that they are a waste of cash. I have seen the kit on eliseshop, as well as a few companies that specialise in xenon kits (I can research which are the brightest compatible ones)

Do these really make a difference?
Are they a pain to install - I can be a bit of a numptie, although I managed the shortshifter kit in about 30 min.

[go4it2]

Hi

Def worth it, we had a group buy some time ago on SELOC quite a while back (surprised if it was not posted on here)They are not difficult to fit, just a case of taking the wheel arch liners out, finding a suitable location to fit a couple of items and then connect to the new bulb. If I can do it anyone can. The most trouble I had was getting a jack low enough for the elise. I now need to fit them to my new car as they were to good to leave in the one i sold on :-)
They should come with instructions 2
So...get them, worth every £

[shangani]

Thanks for the advice - will go ahead & order them then. What price did you folks pay in the end?

[go4it2]

We got ours through YvoTuk from elise-shop.com

I bought the Elise S2 H1/H7 single kit 1(Dipped beam only) which ended up around £210.....which I thought was good, mind you we did purchase quite a lot.

I guess you could contact him and see if he could do it again if there is enough interest on here. I hope he will not get the hump with me for saying tho :-)

Still his service was excellent

[bogie]

yep - dont fanny around wasting money on 'upgraded' bulbs - get HIDs...Ive had dip and main beam on my S2 for about 2 years now (from Elise Shop) and wouldnt be without them...its like driving in daylight during the winter months. After fitting go to a body shop or MOT a=place and gel them lined up correctly too :up

[gooby]

I have been thinking about this for a while. I also have a HID torch for diving, to replace a bulb it costs £110 and is a special order item.

Are the HID bulbs on the elise parts system expensive? Are they easy to get hold of? I mean halfords easy?

[bogie]

they last forever (well nearly!) but yes you can get spares - about £80 each...should outlast the life of an Elise though

[gooby]

Hi Bogie,
In my experience HID "bulbs" do not like short intervals powered on, ie flashing and take some time to warm up then like to spend some time cooling down before you use them again. And they hate vibration like you find on the front of a Liz!

This is purely experience with my VERY expensive torch which I have had to replace only one bulb but have no desire to do again soon.

The lights have o be upgraded, normal dipped headlights are so feeble, they are dangerous.

[StuartB]

I got my set from Yvo too. I left the box open on the passenger seat when I took my car for a service at Lakeside... .magically they appeared fitted to the car when I picked it up later that day

Aparently there are instructions that suggested self taping screws, max mention he drilled and rivited it instead ?

Oh, and they are soooooo worth buying!

>> Edited by StuartB on Monday 26th September 11:48

[bogie]

ive been using them for about 18 months now - dip and main beam...no probs at all :up

[johnnyhayward]

I'm going to try and get a bulk buy set up for these from Yvo, if anyone is interested.

Cheers

Johnny

[ju.]

this kit seems very tempting

[jig]

I'm in.

[shangani]

Well given the enthusiasm, I am in too (obviously after starting the thread) If not much more than ~ £200. Is the kit specifically for the elise or is it generic with a specific bulb type that matches the elise?

If it is just a generic kit, ie H1 bulb say 6000k, there are plenty of kits available from the us ~ $320 which is considerably cheaper.

[bogie]

you can buy cheaper generic kits on ebay....however some are 2 box solutions (more hassle/weight) and theyve never been tried in an Elise before...the kits Yvo does have been assembled for the ELise and come with all the relevant fixings etc.......

[johnnyhayward]

Add your name on here http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.php?tid=59989&page=1

I'll start a new thread too about the group buy

[shangani]

Thanks Bogie - I suspect that settles it then. Will go ahead with the elise-shop kit you have. If you read in the paper about a Doctor fried in a nasty electrical accident, that would be me then...